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Chapter Text

Colby groaned and ran a hand through his dark hair, slamming the obnoxiously blue front door behind him. He could hear his parents still yelling at each other as he strolled away. So much for 'marriage is the best thing that'll ever happen to you, son' then huh. He rolled his eyes for about the seventh time that day, straightened out his shirt colar, and marched away from his large, white, house. As he got farther away, he could no longer hear the shouts of his parents, and the fuzz in his brain calmed down just a little.

It was a fine day, the sun shone brightly down on the town, casting a warm light over each perfect little cottage house Colby passed by on his way to the school house. He tilted his chin slightly towards the sky, savouring the last remnants of warmth before August turned to September and summer turned to autumn. Avon-Lee's autumns were always chilly, but they had nothing on the fierce Canadian winters that threw a layer of white powder over the little town each year. It would look harmless, even picturesque, but the winters were always hard and tough for everyone involved.

Leaving the houses behind him, Colby ambled onto the little path into the forest. The leaves of the trees were already changing colour and meeting with the floor, not yet crunching under his boots, but still under them, nonetheless. He breathed in the crisp air and felt almost content for a moment- then he heard the loud and on-the-cusp-of-shrill voice of Winnifred Butterworth a little while behind him. With out a second more to think like a smart and mature man, Colby leapt to the nearest sturdy branch and scrambled up a tall-standing oak tree. The branches were strong and held him up easily. He let out a shameful sigh as Winnifred passed right by the tree without even glancing up at him once. Close. Colby would have taken a moment to scold himself for this terrible behaviour, but he was too busy ogling the boy who had appeared from the trees’ midst alongside Winnifred.

He had never seen this boy before, but he looked to be about his and Winnie's age, and about as bored as Colby got whenever Winnie would talk his ear off also. The boy had a sharp jawline with piercing blue eyes and pale skin. A few moles dotted his neck and he was a well-built young man, however, the thing that caught Colby's eye was his hair. It was the colour of the vanilla ice cream sold by Miss Partridge at the sweet shop. Colby had never seen a boy with blonde hair before. He thought it looked quite handsome. Good for him- who is he though?

Colby snapped out of his small trance to try and catch what Winnifred was saying to the boy.
"...and you must refer to me as Winnifred at all times, if anyone hears you call me that silly nickname of yours, they will surely think that you are trying to pursue me. That would be simply unacceptable. It will not happen, understand?"
The boy didn't speak, the same bored expression on his face.
"Samuel? Hello?"

So that was his name. How proper. Colby thought.

"Yes Pooh, no interactions at all!"

"Oh will you stop calling me that wretched name!"

"Sorry Po- Winnifred! Winnifred. Wiiinnniiefreee-"

"Alright that is quite enough! You really should learn some manners, boy."

"Don't call me boy, I'm older than you!"

"Oh hush. Now I'm going to start walking. You'd better stay here and count to 100 before walking, otherwise-"

"Everyone will think that I'm trying to pursue you, and you can't have that because of your BeLoVeD. I know. I'll wait."

"Good. I'll see you at school. Don't talk to me!"

"Bye Pooh!"

"Hush!"

Winnifred hurried on towards the school house, the bo- Samuel- mock-counting loudly behind her. Maybe he's not so proper after all then.

Colby was just pondering why on Earth Winnifred was walking to school with this odd new boy, who she didn't want to be seen with? Who is he? Why is he in Avo-

"You don't have to wait for me to leave, I can see you."

Colby startled from his thoughts immediately, almost falling from the tree in his scramble to collect himself.

"Why are you up a tree anyways?"

Colby's mind went entirely blank. He shrugged and slowly climbed down from the oak.

"Eavesdropping?" Samuel smirked at him with perfect white teeth.

"No!" Colby replied, horrified at the mere prospect of such a thing. "I was just- uh-"

"Got a bit lost?"

Colby muttered a low 'yeah' and looked awkwardly at his feet.

Samuel laughed and stuck out his hand, "M'names Sam, but posh-o's call me Samuel."

Colby frowned, but took Sam's hand and shook it. "Mine is Cole, but I'd prefer Colby, if you don't mind."

Sam faltered slightly when Colby said his name, "Cole Brock?"

"Yes how did you-"

"I'm the Butterworth's new boy."

"Ah."

The two boys started to walk towards the school house together. Sam seemed to already know everything about Colby, which weirded him out just a little, as Sam had only known Winnie for two days and she had already spilled everything about him.

"So, is it true that you're going to propose then? Bit early is it not? You're only 15, lad."

"And you're how much older?"

"Just a year."

"Well it's never too early apparently. I suppose it's inevitable anyway." At his own words, Colby let out a small sigh.

Sam frowned for a second before grinning madly, "You were up that tree to avoid dear Poohs weren't you?! Ha! I don't blame you!" The blonde laughed loudly, throwing his head back to face the sky.

Colby looked to his feet, his ears turning bright red from the embarrassment of it all.

"Don't worry," Sam said solemnly. "Your secret is safe with me." He put a hand over his heart seriously and stuck out his pinkie.

Colby frowned at the outstretched finger in front of him, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"My god, don't tell me you've never pinkie-sworn before?"

"Don't swear, it's quite a rotten habit!"

Sam laughed that charming laugh again and smiled at Colby. "A pinkie swear is were you link fingers in a way to make a promise more MaGiCaL."

Colby took in this information seriously and put out his own finger. Sam intertwined them and they shook on it.

"Thank you."

"No problemo! Ah, this must be the school house then?"

"No it's a bathing machine."

Sam looked taken aback by the sudden sarcastic joke from the proper boy next to him for a second, and Colby was about to take it back and apologise when Sam laughed again, the bright smile the laugh formed reaching right to the twinkle in his eyes. It was quite contagious, and Colby was joining his mad laughter within seconds.

"Boys! Inside right away, there is no time to dawdle!" Mr Phillips hollered from the doorway of the quaint little building.

"Yes sir! Sorry sir!" Colby spoke back. For some reason this made Sam laugh even more, but Colby had no time to ponder it as he was too busy dragging the blonde inside before they got themselves in trouble for being anymore late than they already were.

When they entered the classroom, Winnifred looked up in shock-horror when she saw Sam walking with Colby. She glared at Sam before blowing her usual air-kiss to Colby. Sam snorted and rolled his eyes, plonking himself down in a random seat. The random seat happened to be the one next to Colby that was always empty. The blonde smiled to himself a little when Colby sat down next to him.

Upon the new boy's arrival, whispers broke out furiously amongst the girls, whilst the boys side of the room just gave him looks or pats on the back.

"That is quite enough of that! Turn to page 47 at once, children!"

Everyone groaned lowly and followed instructions.

As the day went by, many rumours had gone around the little class of who Sam was and why he'd turned up right at the end of the school year. The most popular one was that he was a French prince who was exiled by his own father because he wanted to marry a poor girl. Of course. A few others were that he was a spy from a far away country, an undercover detective, or a murderer who had fled from his previous village after escaping an angry mob. The last one was actually very extreme and was ignored by most. Now obviously none of these were true, Sam was just an orphan bought into a rich girl's family to help on their farm (through the winters especially). No one knew this though, as Winnie had forbade Sam from telling a soul that she even knew him before he walked into the classroom. Colby felt very cool that he knew the great secret that was troubling his entire class, and quietly smirked to himself whenever someone asked Sam about himself, and the boy simply brushed them off. Sam caught him smirking at one point and raised an eyebrow jokingly, causing Colby's ears to light up again. Sam giggled- giggled quietly after that, making Johnny in front of them furrow his brow at them and shake his head.

By the end of the day, Sam was viewed as a handsome, mysterious and 'tragically lonesome' boy. Winnifred was not particularly happy about this fact, nor that Sam had managed to befriend her BeLoVeD, but she concluded it was better than being associated with an orphan.

Chapter Text

For the next week or so, Sam and Colby managed to form a (rather strange) routine. Colby would leave his house a little earlier than he used to, climb up that sturdy oak tree, and wait for Sam and Winnifred to appear. Sam would try his best to make Colby laugh by teasing Winnie until she crossed her arms and marched off towards the school house. Then Colby would jump down and walk with Sam. Colby found he liked it a lot more than walking to school alone- or with Winnie.

The rest of their class had not yet figured out who Sam was. Many of the girls had already decided that they were 'tragically' in love with him, and multiple has tried to walk home with him. Much to Colby's delight, Sam had refused, and walked with him instead. Winnifred, however, was not happy at all. She made this very clear to both Sam and Colby.

One morning, Colby made the terrible mistake of sleeping in a little late, and didn't make it to the tree in time to climb it. Winnie immediately linked arms with him and tried furiously to walk with him as far away from Sam as physically possible - much to Sam's amusement. The entire walk was, from that point on, filled with constant passive-aggressive comments about Sam and Colby's friendship.

"You two have become quite close I see." Winnie muttered, pout pulling at her pretty features.

"Yeah." Sam replied, snickering at her grumpiness.

She gave him a dirty side-eye and turned back to Colby, "As my betrothed, you really should walk places with me, you know. It's much more gentlemanly."

Colby shrugged, "I suppose."

"Yes, and you shouldn't spend time with orpha- uhm- boys like him." Winnie whispered the last part into Colby's ear.

Colby's eyes narrowed, "What's wrong with Sam?"

Winnifred looked astonished. Colby barely ever challenged her on anything! "Cole! He- well! Nothing is wrong with him. It just- it wouldn't hurt to spend a little more time with me is... is all I'm saying."

Colby softened at that. "I know, I'm sorry Winnie, I will make an effort to spend more time with you." He had truly been avoiding her, and he felt a little bit guilty.

She smiled softly at his apology, Sam pretending to gag on his pointer finger behind her.

"Do you promise?" She asked, eyes narrowed.

"Pinkie promise." Colby said firmly, holding out his finger to her.

Behind Winnie, Sam's eyes widened just a little, and he glanced away. Winnifred just dropped her smile and rolled her eyes. She turned to Sam and hissed, "You really should stop spreading your strange finger-language around!" As if Colby couldn't hear her. Somehow, she was still under the impression that Colby didn't know Sam lived with her.

That warm feeling in Colby's tummy was gone again, and he just felt the usual annoyance at Winnifred, who was now flouncing away towards her usual group of girls. He looked to Sam, expecting him to crack a joke, or even just grin at him, but the blonde wasn't even looking in his direction. He frowned and was about to ask if he was alright, but he didn't get the chance to as Moody had chosen that moment to try and give him a side-hug, but had managed to trip himself up on the way and ended up just kicking Colby's legs out from underneath him and knocking him to ground.

"Sorry!"

Colby laughed, "It's alright don't worry!" He stood, brushed off the dirt and held out a hand to Moody, pulling him to his feet beside him.

Moody grinned dorkily. "So what's the deal with this Samuel? You two seem to be pretty pally."

Colby frowned and whipped his head around, but realised that Sam was no longer stood beside him and had gone inside. He slowly turned back to Moody to answer him. "He's quite nice, I'm not sure what all of this bother is about."

"Oh- I really thought he was a French prince, you know."

Colby snorted, but Moody deadpanned, "I'm serious Colby! He's all blonde and his eyes and- oh shut it!" Colby flicked his ear as they walked inside and hung up their jackets.

As he and Moody walked in Gilbert clapped a hand on his back and Charlie smacked the back of Moody's neck.

"Is Moody still blathering about the new boy?" Charlie asked, laughing lightly.

Colby grinned, "Yes, he is actually."

"Goodness, Moody, why don't you just talk to him yourself?" Gilbert poked the boy in the side with an eyebrow raised.

"I hate you all!" Moody exclaimed with no real truth behind his words.

Colby sat down in his chair and blew back an air-kiss to Winnie just to humor her. A ripple of giggles went out through the girl's side of the room after that, even the girl that had just been talking to Sam joined in with the giggle-fit. Sam rolled his eyes, but his usual grin was back in place, and a weight lifted from Colby's heart.

"SHUT IT! ALL OF YOU! Now get out your books!" Mr. Phillips belted, spitting a little in the process, making Colby glad of his seat near the back of the room.

Gilbert turned around from in front of them a little while into the day and addressed Sam, "Psst, Samuel, is it true you're a French prince? Moody is dying to know, I think he might burst if he doesn't get the truth."

Sam looked a little shocked for a second before bursting out into laughter, earning a yell from Mr. Phillips. Once the moustached man had shut his mouth, Sam whispered back, "I'm actually a German prince, not French." Gilbert grinned and Moody had his head in his hands.

Colby cackled quietly. "Oh and don't forget how you were tragically banished from your kingdom for love."

Sam snickered, "How could I! I'm most scarred."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks after the first time their routine had been broken, it was broken again for the second time. Colby arrived at the tree to see Winnie already there, a little smile on her face.

"I have come early to walk to school with you!"

Colby frowned, "Where's Sam?"

"How would I know!" She said indignantly.

Colby just sighed and decided to give up the weird charade. "Winnie, I know that he's your family's boy, but don't be concerned, I do not think any lower of you."

Winnifred looked horrified, "He told you?!"

"No, I just overheard your conversation with him a few days ago." He lied.

"Ah. Well. Yes, he is." She seemed to take a minute to process the fact he knew she was associated with an orphan. "That's why he's not in school. Now that it's officially winter he will only be attending school two days a week to attend his duties on our farm. He will continue to do so until winter is fully over."

Colby's face fell. "Oh."

"-well!" Winnie finished for him. "Now," she held out her arm, "Shall we?"

The boy smiled weakly, "I suppose we shall."

Chapter Text

After the first two days of the week had dragged on by, Colby arrived at the oak tree just a tad earlier so he could crunch around in the orangey autumn leaves without any judgment from Winnie. To his delight, when he reached the spot, a grinning Sam leapt up from his cross-legged position amongst some leaves and threw himself straight at Colby. He wrapped his arms around his back and squeezed him tight.

Colby was taken-a-back for just a second, bright eyes widened in surprise before he slowly brought his own arms up around Sam's waist and hugged him back. When the blonde pulled away after a moment, his smile was soft and his eyes were crinkled at the corners just a little. Colby had never noticed the tiny sliver of green in his eyes before.

"Happy to see me huh?" Colby teased.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Maybe a little. God you don't understand how BORING it is on that damn farm. The only exciting parts are the animals- but that's about it!"

"It's that bad huh?"

Sam nodded, "Deffo." Colby furrowed his brows a little. Sam just smiled even fonder and said, "Short for definitely."

Colby's face softened with realisation and he made an 'o' shape with his mouth. Sam just ruffled his dark hair and slung an arm around his shoulder, "Now let's get a bloody move on before your wife shows up and spoils all our fun."

Colby pouted, "She's not actually my wife-"

"-yet." Sam finished.

"Well yeah but... shut up."

Sam raised his eyebrows, "Oh wow? I didn't know such vulgar words like 'shut' and 'up' were even in your vocabulary sir!" He teased.

Colby flicked him on the head and they continued through the forest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the school house Sam was questioned incessantly on his two-day disappearance by their class mates. He just answered with a shrug and a wink - apparently this was a good enough reason. A few girls said it made him 'ever so mysterious'. Colby snorted when he heard that, which got him a few side-eyes but he didn't really care.

The day dragged on without much of anything interesting happening at all. The most exciting thing that happened all day was Moody accidentally dropping a chalkboard instead of hanging it to Mr. Phillips. The little board broke over the man's toes, causing him to go bright red in the face and 'scream the damned house down' in Sam's words.

As the children all piled out of the doorway and into the cold air, Colby saw Winnie turn to him and open her mouth from a few feet away just as a hand grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back inside the school house. He whipped around, ready to raise his fists, but relaxed when he saw Sam slamming the door behind them and smirk at him. "Thought I'd save you, she was talking about babies quite a lot this morning."

"Oh God." Colby grimaced a little.

"Yeahhh... and anyways, I want to show you something!" Colby tilted his head quizzically at Sam. The blonde just grinned and linked their arms. They walked out the back of the schoolhouse just to make sure they could successfully avoid Winnie and her baby-talk. Sam led them down their usual route, but when they reached their oak tree, they turned down the path to the Butterworth household.

Colby raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Why are we going to Winnie's house whilst avoiding her?"

Sam just put a finger to his quirked lips and pulled Colby behind a rose bush. He peeked his head around it, seemingly checking if the coast was clear, and brought them both round to the back of a large shed that lay like an old dog in the back corner of the family's massive garden. Suddenly, Sam hooked his fingers around an odd plank of wood protruding from the shed's wall and hoisted himself up to the open space at the top. The muscles in his biceps flexed under the strain and-

'Well that's a weird detail to notice Cole,' He thought to himself.

Sam grinned down at him held out a hand. Colby took it and with out warning was pulled up beside the other boy. "Now how on Earth did you pull me up here with one hand?" He spluttered.

Sam just winked and beckoned for him to follow as he slowly made his way to a more sheltered corner of the shed's upstairs. Colby followed carefully, slightly worried for their safety as the wooden floor beneath him felt alarmingly flimsy.

The blonde sat down on the floor quietly and pulled Colby by the hand to sit next to him. "Wha-"

"Shh, look." Sam pointed in front of them to a pile of straw and hay. Colby made a face at him and turned to look. He kept looking confusedly for a moment before he saw a tiny rustle of movement in the mess before him.

He let out a small 'oh' as a tiny little baby chick hopped out of the heap and made its way slowly towards the two. His gaze softened at the sight of the little bird. Then, another two hopped out after their sibling. One started to chirp softly, and another went straight up to Sam and pecked at his hand a few times.

"They're so... cute!" Colby whispered to Sam. He turned to look at him, but the blonde was already staring straight at him with fondness brimming in his eyes.

"I found them on Monday whilst I was up here just snooping around instead of getting the rake I was sent for. They seem to be all alone and I have no clue how they managed to get up here. I've brought them seed and water for the last two days but they're pretty malnourished." He sighed, "I'm not sure how much longer they're gonna make it, I have no idea how long they've been alone up here."

Colby saddened at that. He looked a little closer at the chicks and saw how skinny they were. Two were missing large amounts of fathers and the third has a little bald spot on it's head.

He saw Sam looking a little too sad for his lining and nudged him gently with his knee, "What are their names?"

Sam cracked a small smile, "That's why I brought you here, I have no clue what to name them."

Colby mock-gasped, "You? Don't know what to name something? Gosh what has happened to you?" Sam laughed and elbowed him.

"Really though, what should we call them?"

Colby turned back to the birds, still hopping around their hands. "Hmmm... I think we should call this one," he pointed to the biggest one, "Biscuit."

"Biscuit?" Sam laughed, "Yeah I can see that. Okay what about this guy?" He lifted the one with a slightly different coloured beak gently from the floor.

Colby considered for a moment before saying, "Bonnie."

"Ooo sweet." The two boys grinned at each other happily. Colby looked at the last chick. It was the smallest one there, the one with a little bald spot.

"I don't know about this one... you name her! I've don't two after all." Sam squinted at the chick for second before announcing it would be called, "Pipsquack! Like pipsqueak but quack 'cuz it's a bird and all y'know?"

"I love it... Pip for short!"

"Yeah!"

They smiled at each other even wider, little baby chickens around their ankles. The moment was interrupted by the sound of a key in a lock and the shed door swinging open below them. Both boy's eyes widened comically and Sam jumped up frantically. He ushered Colby behind a large hay stack and held a finger against the boy's lips. Colby nodded and crouched silently behind the hay.

He heard footsteps ascending the ladder and Sam quickly hiding the chicks. A deep gruff voice spoke, "Samuel? What are you do up here boy? The shed was locked for a reason."

"Right sir- sorry I just... wanted to check if I had left my cap up here."

"And did you?" The voice replied. Colby felt his own cap being pulled off of his head and he looked up incredulously at Sam's small grin before the blonde turned back around to the man (who sounded like Mr. Butterworth but Colby wasn't quite sure).

"Right, there you go lad, now come on out of the way, I have work to do. Quickly, or I'll make you join me."

"Of course, I'll be right out!" Sam threw a nervous glance at Colby before disappearing down the ladder. Colby heard footsteps approaching his hiding spot and felt a drip of sweat roll down his forehead. The steps stopped abruptly and he heard the scraping of metal equipment being picked up before the man left and locked the door behind him.

Colby sprung up and looked out over the edge of the shed. There was a long way to go before the ground. He glanced back at the chicks once before taking a deep breath and jumping out with his eyes closed. He hit the ground with bent knees and a sharp pain shot up his ankle.

"Dang it." He muttered, not even caring that he had cursed. Colby crept back around the edge of the garden, just barely missing Winnie's younger sisters playing in the flower bed as he passed by.

Just before he turned to go home through the forest, he looked back at the house to see Sam grinning and waving from the kitchen window. He waved right back and walked off into the woods.

Chapter Text

Over the course of the next few weeks, life continued on as normal for Colby, except on the two days that Sam was in school, he would walk back home with Winnie and Sam (much to Winnie's oblivious delight). However, after bidding his betrothed farewell he wouldn't leave the property. Instead, he would sneak around to the back of the shed and Sam would pull him up to see the chicks.

The three little birds were steadily improving their health and had already grown bigger than when Colby first met them. His favourite part of each week was going to see the chicks. So far they had found out that Bonnie and Pip were girls and Biscuit was a boy. Oh and also that Biscuit was a bit of a bully and Bonnie was always fighting him for the seed. Pip, who had taken to Colby within the first week, would just cuddle up in the palm of his hand and wait for her siblings to stop fighting.

Life was good. Well... for the most part. Colby loved seeing the chicks, but going home after was getting harder and harder. His parents were constantly fighting and shouting. It became routine for him to go through the back door and straight to his room the moment he came home from school, just to avoid getting dragged into the mess.

One time he had showed up to the oak tree with red eyes from crying after his father had blamed Colby for the family falling apart. He hadn't caught that detail in the mirror as he rushed out of the house, but Sam noticed. He always did. With out even asking the boy had just pulled Colby in for a hug and rubbed a gentle hand over his back until he pulled away.

Colby was so thankful for Sam - honestly, he didn't know how he had ever survived with out him. Yeah, his friends were great fun and nice lads, but they just didn't get him like Sam did. They never really noticed the things that Sam did.

On one cold Saturday, Colby woke up at the crack of dawn just to go out for a run before his parents woke up. The freezing air felt like a refreshing glass of water filling his throat and clearing his mind. His boots his the dirt in a therapeutic rhythm, almost like a melody. Colby smiled happily as he rounded the corner and jogged up to the front door of his house.

He had decided - naively - to go through the front door, as he heard no shouting from inside the house, but as he took of his shoes and wiped his sweaty brow, he noticed that something was off. He could hear movement from down the hall, but the kitchen showed no signs of life. Colby frowned, it was unusual of his parents to not have breakfast the moment they woke up. They were a very routinely pair.

Suddenly a sob broke through the still air like the crack of a whip. Colby startled and quickly went straight to sound of the cry. He pushed open the door to the living room and-

"WHERE ON EARTH HAVE YOU BEEN BOY?" His father was standing over his mother who was cradling her hand on the floor. Tears were streaming down her face and dripping onto a large red cut that ran along her palm. Half a broken glass lay on the floor beside her, the other half clutched in his father's shaking hand.

Colby stood frozen in shock in the doorway, eyes wide and breath held.

"WELL?" Spit sprayed from his father's mouth.

"Did you... did-" Colby choked on his own words, "Did you do that?"

The man before him glared, fires in is eyes, "Do what, son?" Colby didn't like the emphasis put on the word 'son'.

He pointed to his mother, who had gone silent and was just staring at the wall sadly. "That cut on mother's hand, you did that didn't you?"

His father didn't speak.

"How- why- what? Father?"

He stayed silent.

Colby took in a breath and stepped forwards. The silence weighed down on him like a boulder. Slowly he lowered himself to his mother and peered at the open wound. It wasn't that deep, just a bad scratch, but it was still there.

"Mother, are you okay?" His mother looked up to meet his eyes, but didn't say anything. Her face was void of any emotion. It was like that a lot recently. A white hot rage bloomed in his chest as his father grunted beside him like nothing mattered.

"How could you?" He stood up and looked his father straight on. "How could you do this to her?" Colby was taller than the man, but somehow he still felt small and weak stood before him.

"You're pathetic-"

Pain seared across his cheek and his head snapped sharply to the side. His father had hit him.

What.

No this wasn't how things were supposed to go. Parents are supposed to love you-?

Why didn't his own father love him?

Colby looked at the man again, this time with tears in his eyes. Not a crack of remorse showed on his father's face. Suddenly he stormed out of the room, causing both Colby and his mother to flinch as he moved. He slammed the door hard behind him and stomped down the hall.

Colby turned to see his mother stand up, expression still blank. She met his gaze and simply said, "You've got chores Cole, get yourself cleaned up." Then she walked out and upstairs.

A single tear dropped down his cheek, but before it even hit the floor he heard a knock of fist on wood. For a second he thought his father was hitting something again, but he heard the door open and-

"Hello sir, is Colby home?"

He knew that voice.

"Don't call him that. His name is Cole. What do you want with my son?"

Colby heard that little stutter Sam always had when he didn’t know what to say and immediately jolted forwards. He practically ran to the front door and got there just in time to see his father shoving past a slightly confused looking Sam. The man got into his car and promptly drove off. Colby felt a small portion of the weight lift off his shoulders.

"Colby why is your face bruised... have you been crying? Wha-"

Colby collapsed into Sam's arms.

The blonde whispered softly into his hair, "Oh, Colby."

Chapter Text

Sam had taken Colby to the oak tree to get him out of the house, as the blonde had sensed that his didn't feel comfortable there. When they reached the tree, Sam climbed up first before reaching out and pulling Colby up - even though Colby could get up there himself, Sam just liked to help him.

Colby had stopped crying already, and was more calm, but the bruise on his cheek was becoming more visible and his eyes were still red from the tears. The boy lent his head against a branch and looked at his feet.

"Hey, Colby. Did your dad do that to your face?"

Colby looked up quickly, slightly shocked that Sam knew, but then he remembered 'it's Sam, he notices everything' and his gaze softened. Colby just nodded.

Sam huffed, "I'm actually gonna bash his skull in if he ain't careful."

Colby raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that a tad extreme?"

"It's not extreme at all! He such a bum." Sam rolled his eyes, "Why have kids if you're not gonna be a good parent? Stupid."

Colby just nodded again. A small wave of understanding passed between them at that statement - both could relate to it.

"If he ever lays a hand on you again, you get straight out of that house and find me okay? If he's done it once, I don't trust him not to do it again. I know he's your da' and you can't exactly just up and leave, but if you're not safe we'll figure something out alright?"

Sam rested a gentle hand on Colby's ankle, "I don't want you to get hurt and stuff." Colby smiled. He smiled wider than he had since Gilbert fell off a roof in front of all the girls. Sam looked away embarrassed, and scratched the back of his neck - this only made Colby smile even more, and then for some reason he was laughing.

Sam looked up confusedly, "Wha-?" Colby laughed even harder.

"I d-don't HA even- k-knowhaHAH!" Sam started to laugh too and eventually they were laughing so hard that-

"OH FU-" Sam fell right off his branch and tumbled roughly to the forest floor. Thankfully, he hadn't been too high up in the tree so he didn't look too mangled.

"Oh my God- Sam?! Are you okay??" Colby scrambled out of the tree, almost falling out himself due to his urgency to reach the boy. He crouched down next to Sam and shook his shoulder, "Hey! Hey! Sam?" The blonde didn't move. He was lying face down in the dirt, his arm at an odd angle.

"Oh God- oh-" Colby had really started to panic. He rolled the boy over onto his back and frantically grabbed his wrist to checked his pulse. Before he felt a beat, he heard a little snort and saw that Sam's mouth was pulled into a tight smirk, like he was holding back laughter.

Colby let out a massive breath he hadn't even known he was holding. Then he slapped Sam on the forehead and the boy opened his eyes. Immediately he was bursting out laughing again whilst Colby scalded him and went on about how he had almost had a heart attack and died, therefore meaning Sam had attempted murder and should go to jail.

"Did you actually hurt yourself at all?? That was rather a large fall." Colby chewed his lip, eyes scanning over Sam.

"Nah not really, just a few bruises here and there. I'm fineeee." Sam patted Colby on the shoulder.

After a brief moment of silence Colby remembered his previous question, "Why were you at my door in the first place?"

Sam brightened, "Oh yeah!" He grabbed Colby's hand and started dragging him in the direction of the schoolhouse. He glanced at the sun and nodded to himself, "We should be just in time to see!"

"See what? Why are we going to school? It's Sunday!"

"Just trust me!"

They kept walking until they reached the back of the schoolhouse. Sam held a finger up to Colby's lips and gestured for him to crouch down low. They crept around the back of the building until they reached a window that wasn't fully covered.

Sam pointed at the window and grinned, "Mr Phillips has been meeting a mystery lady here." He whispered. Colby's eyes widened.

"Why? Why here?"

"I don't know, but I think it might be because they're both hiding from everyone! I've not been able to see who the lady is yet, I only saw him follow her in here twice, but I couldn't stay and snoop 'cuz I had work to do!"

Colby stared in shock at his crazy friend. "You are unbelieva-" Sam quickly slapped his hand back over Colby's mouth.

"Shh, they're coming!"

Through the small gap in the curtains, the two boys could see a man walk in holding the hand of a lady in a light purple dress. They couldn't see either of their faces but they could tell immediately by the signature suit that the man was their teacher. The lady looked considerably shorter than him and had long light brown hair. His hands met the lady's waist and they got closer until-

Colby gasped, "Sam! We should go! They're kissing!" Sam just smirked and then picked up a small rock from the floor. Colby frowned for a second before he saw him move his hand backwards and before he could stop him, Sam had thrown the pebble at the window, causing the two inside to break apart immediately and Mr Phillips to whip around in their direction.
Sam grabbed Colby's hand and they scrambled up from the floor, running as fast as they could around the side and away down the the forest from the school. Behind them they heard a distant shout, but they were too far to be spotted.

"SAM!" Colby exclaimed.

"That was amazing!" The blonde laughed delightedly and rubbed the bruises on his leg gingerly. Colby rolled his eyes fondly and elbowed his friend.

"You are so ridiculous."

"But you love me!"

"I suppose I do."